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Mets top Yankees, 2-1, to open Subway Series

May 21, 2011 - 4:19 AM Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Daniel Murphy homered off Freddy Garcia leading off the sixth inning, boosting the Mets to a 2-1 win and sending the Yankees to their sixth straight home loss.

Rookie third baseman Justin Turner continued his torrid hitting by going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI for the Mets, who have won three in a row. They were coming off back-to-back shutouts of the Washington Nationals.

Turner has driven in a run in six straight games, tying the franchise rookie record set by Ron Svoboda from August 22-26, 1965.

"We've been playing some pretty good baseball and we've got some momentum right now," Turner said. "We've been playing pretty confident. Our pitching staff's been unbelievable. I can't even describe how good they've been."

The 2011 edition of the Subway Series got underway Friday night with a good pitching duel between knuckleball specialist R.A. Dickey and Garcia.

Dickey (2-5) allowed four hits, three walks and had six strikeouts over six innings to post his first victory since April 3 at Florida. He had lost his last five decisions.

"That's always a challenge," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said of Dickey's tough pitches. "No one knows where it's going."

Francisco Rodriguez retired the side in order in the ninth to convert his 15th straight save chance, his longest such stretch since saving 16 straight to start the 2009 season.

Mark Teixeira homered off Dickey in the third inning, but the Yankees had their three-game win streak broken. They've lost seven of their last 10 contests. It was a rough night, as the hosts went 1-for-10 with men in scoring position.

Garcia (2-4) surrendered five hits over seven innings and took the loss.

The Yankees wasted a bases-loaded chance in the second inning when Brett Gardner grounded into a force play.

Teixeira homered to right with two outs in the third as the ball barely got into the seats, just over the glove of a leaping Carlos Beltran.

Fernando Martinez doubled to left-center field with two outs in the fourth. He advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Turner's double to right field.

Dickey escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the fifth and Murphy pounded the second pitch of the sixth into the seats in right field.

"I got a splitter right there and was able to put a good swing on it," Murphy commented. "It feels good because I haven't hit a lot of stuff hard lately. Hopefully that'll be a springboard moving forward."

Russell Martin doubled to left with one gone in the bottom of the frame, but Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher both struck out.

Mike O'Connor threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh and Jason Isringhausen fanned two batters in a spotless eighth before Rodriguez closed it with a pair of strikeouts.

Game Notes

The Yankees have lost six in a row at home for just the second time since 1990. They lost eight straight in the Bronx from May 16-26, 2003...Jeter has an active 23-game home hitting streak vs. the Mets dating to June 28, 2003...The Mets are 2-11 all-time in series in the Bronx...The Mets have won six of their last eight road games...Rodriguez also extended his scoreless innings streak to 19...It was Dickey's longest losing streak since May 13-June 13, 2004, when he also dropped five straight...The Yankees are batting .224 (41-for-183) with runners in scoring position at home this season...The Mets reached the .500 mark (21-21) for the first time since April 9.